1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a processor system and a control method thereof, and more particularly to a method of managing an LSI that includes a plurality of processors in a case where the temperatures of the processors increase.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is known a conventional semiconductor integrated circuit including a plurality of CPUs (processors) (hereinafter referred to as “multi-core processor”). In the multi-core processor, the plural processors execute individual tasks, and the temperatures of the processors increase in accordance with the operational states of the processors. If the temperature of the processor rises to a predetermined level, the normal operation of the processor is disabled, and the processor may physically be damaged.
In a proposed technique for solving the problem, when the temperature of a processor rises to a predetermined level, the operation of the processor is stopped or the processing load on the processor is decreased, thereby preventing a further temperature rise. Such techniques have been disclosed, for instance, in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 8-314578 or Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-40067.
In these techniques, however, the processing of an application is delayed on the system side using the processor. In particular, if the processor, which is rendered inoperable, has executed an important process in the application, a serious fault would occur on the system side.